So-so Broadway season still yields some Tony suprises

By all accounts, this was not a season of quality on Broadway, but you would never know that from the Tony Award nominations announced this morning.

The nominating committee must have wracked its brains, but it came up with five nominees to fill the Best Play category, even though four of them have long since closed. And the committee was either instructed to nominate recognizable names or they are simply star-struck. What else could explain the inclusion of Amy Schumer, Diana Rigg, Renee Fleming and Michael Cera in the performance categories?

For both plays and musicals, it was a stronger season for revivals than for new works. Even so, there are only three nominees in the musical revival category. The potent new production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America set a record for nominations of a play (11), but at least it will have competition from the acclaimed Broadway debut of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women. On the other hand, you can bet the mortgage on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child winning for Best Play (a mere 10 nominations), up against those four folded works from earlier in the season.

I just returned from New York where I saw 14 shows in 10 days, but couldn’t bring myself to see SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical, which pulled in a staggering 12 nominations – tied with Mean Girls – at the head of the pack. Still, it is hard to see what Tonys it will win, with The Band’s Visit and the revivals of My Fair Lady and Carousel likely to dominate the evening.

The Tonys nomination announcement usually triggers snubbed shows putting up their closing notices, but the nods were spread around widely enough for most shows to earn enough bragging rights to keep running and mount rosy ad campaigns. Only Escape to Margaritaville emerged empty-handed. Its Parrothead audience is probably oblivious to Tony buzz, but the show did not increase its ticket demand at all. Similarly, Frozen and Mean Girls got enough Tony nomination attention to boost their marketing programs, but any major wins seem unlikely for either show.

The 72nd annual Tony Awards, hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, will be broadcast June 10 on CBS, live from Radio City Music Hall. Here are the nominees:

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the TheaterAngels in America
Music: Adrian SuttonThe Band’s Visit
Music and Lyrics: David YazbekFrozen
Music and Lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert LopezMean Girls
Music: Jeff Richmond
Lyrics: Nell BenjaminSpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Music and Lyrics: Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I., Domani & Lil’C

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Andrew Garfield, Angels in America
Tom Hollander, Travesties
Jamie Parker, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Mark Rylance, Farinelli and The King
Denzel Washington, The Iceman Cometh

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Glenda Jackson, Three Tall Women
Condola Rashad, Saint Joan
Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God
Amy Schumer, Meteor Shower

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady
Joshua Henry, Carousel
Tony Shalhoub, The Band’s Visit
Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady
Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island
LaChanze, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Katrina Lenk, The Band’s Visit
Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls
Jessie Mueller, Carousel

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Michael Cera, Lobby Hero
Brian Tyree Henry, Lobby Hero
Nathan Lane, Angels in America
David Morse, The Iceman Cometh

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Susan Brown, Angels in America
Noma Dumezweni, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Deborah Findlay, The Children
Denise Gough, Angels in America
Laurie Metcalf, Three Tall Women
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady
Alexander Gemignani, Carousel
Grey Henson, Mean Girls
Gavin Lee, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Ari’el Stachel, The Band’s Visit

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, Three Tall Women
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Santo Loquasto, The Iceman Cometh
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce, Angels in America

Best Costume Design of a Play
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Nicky Gillibrand, Angels in America
Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Ann Roth, Three Tall Women
Ann Roth, The Iceman Cometh

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Paule Constable, Angels in America
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, The Iceman Cometh
Paul Russell, Farinelli and The King
Ben Stanton, Junk

Best Sound Design of a Play
Adam Cork, Travesties
Ian Dickinson for Autograph
Ian Dickinson for Angels in America
Gareth Fry, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Tom Gibbons, 1984
Dan Moses Schreier, The Iceman Cometh

Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott, Angels in America
Joe Mantello, Three Tall Women
Patrick Marber, Travesties
John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
George C. Wolfe, The Iceman Cometh